Settlers of Catan + Hexels

Most of you might have played this game before so I won’t bother with the details on how to play the game. What I wanted to show was the Kickstarter project that I backed almost a year ago has finally came to fruition. My Hexels were delivered just in time for Mothers’ Day weekend. And the family broke out the game and gave it a try. Plus a review of some sort.

A word before looking at the pictures. As a Catan fan, you might be surprised at the layout of the game but let me explain further. Our family has decided that we will play to a total of 12 victory points in order to win (Normal : 10 points) and that the numbered tiles are placed face-down prior to the establishment of the settlements (Normal: they are placed face-up). That’s how we played it at home. And yes, we have read the rules and we have played the ‘normal’ version countless of times.

Check out the Hexels!

Almost every Catan player would have faced the difficulty in setting up the game board, hence the introduction of the Hexels. They are magnetic pieces which makes the setting up of the board as easy as you would have imagined it should be. We had absolutely no trouble at all and the pieces stick into place nicely. Not to mention that the raised edges makes placing settlements and roads fun.

Settlements and roads stay in place

Since we were celebrating Mothers’ Day, we conspired to let her win. Although usually, she does play a pretty mean game herself. But in the spirit of the day, we gave her some leeway. Including not using the robber on her and not blocking her pieces on the gameboard. There was, however, one particular game which was pretty tight till the last round, in which it was up for grabs right until the final round. Unfortunately for me, I was just a step away from winning.

Final Standings at the end of the game.

Mom was in Red and I was playing as White. Final round when it was my turn, I already had Longest Road (2 VP) and my settlements gave me another 6 Victory Points (VP). I exchanged three Development Cards to give me 1 VP and 2 soldiers. I had used three soldiers and have another 2 VP in the form of cards. If I could last another round, I would have used the remaining two soldiers to give me 2 VP for Biggest Army. Red already had 9 VP on the board and Mom had the Biggest Army for a total of 11 VP before her turn. She had one remaining unused Development Card. She threw a 3 and added another two roads before revealing her unused Development Card — a Monopoly. She monopolized all the wheat and used them to create another settlement, giving her the Longest Road (2 VP), the Biggest Army (2 VP) and 10 VP on the board. What a game!